WILD LlKi: IN NEW ZEALAND. 



years, however. SOUK- were running >n the Culverden Estate, and 

 two more deep obtained from Tasmania were added to them. 

 This herd .lid not increase, and apparently they have all been 

 destroyed since. 



Tin- Hon. S. Thome Geor-:,., who lived on Kawau from 1869 to 

 1384, told me that the first fallow deer in the colony \\ere introduced 

 there by his uncle. Sir George Grey. Init he eonld not rive the 

 I their introduction. However, in 1876 the Auckland 

 Society received twenty -eight deer from London, and, of these, 

 ei-hteen were liberated on the Maungakawa Range. Wnikato. 

 while ten were sent down to Wanganui. The former herd has 

 increased very largely, and is noted for the fine heads of the sti 



no doubt, to the abundance of food and the favourable 

 climatic conditions. The Wanganui herd is now also a lar^e one. 

 ()n Motutapu. in the Hauraki Gulf, there is a very large herd, 

 which numbered over a thousand some three years ari. These 

 may either lie descended from animals got from Kawau, or were 

 ; .ill obtained from the Waikato herd. Smaller and more 

 recently established herds occur near Tiniaru. Hokitika, and Lake 

 Wakatipu; so it N seen that this species is widely spread throuurh- 

 nur \e\v Zealand. 



RED DEER (f'n-n/a i/n/i/iug). 



This handsome animal is found now in many parts of New 

 Zealand, formim: Lrn-nt herds, some of which number many 

 thousand individuals. The red-deer stag is a lordly creature in 

 summer. Banding over 4ft. high at the shoulder, with a thickly 



ted ncH-k of gn-yisli tint, a rich red-brown body-colour, uniformly 

 curved, symmetrical antlers, and a head held high. In winter 

 the coat is loti-jvi- nm | ,,f a i. r n-\ i.xh tint. The new-born calves are 

 brilliantl\ xj.ottrd with white, a character which this 

 with many other kimN "l deer, In some specie-, as in the axis 

 and fallow deer, the ipoJ 'aineil in the adults, while in 



the majority they an 'lie animals conn- to maturity. The 



infei 'hat the progenitors of all these deer were spotted 



animals; but this character has been lost in the course of time 

 bv sever . though still retained in the VOUDLT. The same 



thii in-\\l\ -born foals often showing the 



piltic bars mi the x-hoiildrrx which are vtill found among 

 certain wild D 'he adult animals. 



